Hart HV .308 barrel, 1-9" - what to do with it??

Hello everybody, I've been lurking here for awhile and want to say thank you for all the great information provided by the members of this forum. And, I hope I can benefit from your expertise with a question.

I have a HV taper barrel in .308 with a 1-9" twist that will finish at 26". The good thing is I got it for a steal from a friend, but my dilemma is I don't know what to do with it. Is the twist too fast for a 308Win? Is there any cartridge that would be a good match with this length barrel, twist and caliber? I would like to build a gun for 3-600 yard shots for upstate PA dear and the occasional unlucky ground hog.

Thanks in advance for your recomendations. I want to start this as a winter project and need some help getting off square one.

Thanks for all the input. If I'd look at a 300WSM, what type of performance could I expect from the heavy bullets? I'm starting to formulate the conclusion that with this barrel length (26"), and if I want to play with the heavy bullets, I may do best by sticking with 300 Win Mag?? I admit I'm bitten by the bug to drive the bullet as fast as possible, but I suspect that with any of the "big" cases (300RUM, 30-378, etc...), the increase in velocity per increase in case capcity over the 300WinMag starts to drop dramatically??

Joe, I think you've nailed it. Putting over 100gr of powder through a 26" pipe will gain probably 100-150 fps over a 300WinMag. At the cost of more powder, more blast, more recoil, and less barrel life.

I too agree with Bountyhunter concerning his thoughts on the 240 gr bullets.

They tend to want larger case capacity cartriges to perform well in the LR hunting fields.

I too shoot 1000 yd benchrest compititions and for paper, the smaller cases are fine.
For wind bucking across the mountain ridges, more velocity is needed so the bullet will perform well on game. The same holds true for the 300 gr 338. You need more velocity and that means longer barrels and more case capacity.

The 10 twist will stabilize the 200, 220 AND 240 gr bullets VERY well. You don't really need the 9 twist for the 240 however, some barrel manufacturers recomend it.

I shot the 10 twist and 240 gr bullets in the 300 Tomahawk and the 30/378. Those rounds and the 10 twist also like the 220 and 200 gr bullets too.

Who ever thought afew years ago that the 11 twist would work so well with 210 to 220 gr bullets?? They work just fine even though most barrel makers "WERE" suggesting 10 twist for those bullet weights.

Thanks for the discussion. MM - I have a 300/221 with a 1-8" barrel and I've never had any bullet stabilization problems from subsonic (~1050fps) loads with 220 or 240g SMK's. But, I've never shot this load at ranges greater than 100 yards, so my experience is limited.

I think I going to use my barrel to build a fun gun - a 7.62x39 or a 30BR, put it on an X-Course stock and have fun at the club beating up the steal with big bullets.

I feel like I'm trying to make a barrel fit a project it wasn't made for - I need to start from scratch and order myself another barrel with my 3-600yd shots as the primary objective per the advice of BountyHounter.

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